The Martian (by Andy Weir) is an excellent read - I started it today, will finish it today too

Very often the case. I can think of a couple of close races though:

I liked Stanley Kubrick's The Shining; the book was more typical Steven King fare, also good though. Pretty sure I saw the movie first.

Then, No Country for Old Men. I often think while watching a movie: I'd be lost if I hadn't read the book. In this case it was the opposite. And first off, Cormac McCarthy is a dynamite author, his prose is on a special plane, I am not worthy, and so on. But with this book, it seemed expressly written as an aid to the screen writers. I saw the movie first. And then while reading the book, I kept thinking: I'd be lost if I hadn't seen the movie, lol. Again, saw the movie first.

 

agree, most books are better than the movies. for one thing, they have to cut so much out. but more importantly, an author can tell you what people are thinking and give insight into the story. character development and relationships are more easily formed in a book.
of course, hollywood spoils a lot of stories in favor of visual effects. but some times the visual effects are worth it. i am often disappointed with a movie, once if i have read the book first, but a book is usually excellent, even if i've seen the movie.

i haven't heard of the book 'the martian', or the coming movie. i'll look into it, thanks!

 

just looked it up, didn't realize it's the one they've been promoting with matt damon. didn't look that good, but i'll give the book a shot.

 

Movie's out. I think?

 

i think so.

 

is district 6 near area 51?

 

Or 9?

 

the movie is great

 

It's on my list at Amazon.

 

Bumped as I have finally seen the movie. It is very enjoyable and as previously stated, it is better at science than any movie I can recall.

Coupla things though: Do not pour liquid oxygen over sugar. Not even once. It is not going to wait around for electrical detonation. It is going to send you to the hospital right now. They may not need to drive fast either. If you used less than 10 grams sugar, the fire might be small and containable. Maybe. But I go with NOPE NOPE NOPE on this one.

A HAB hatch blew out, and Whatney repaired it with plastic sheeting and duct tape. More an a square mete of surface. Even with a minimal atmosphere on the inside, nope.

Not fond of the horizontal banding on the driving-background scenery. OK for Jordan, but nope for Mars.

If he wanted 'somebody to take care of his rover', he would have parked it further from a soon-to-ignite rocket.

OK, nuff. Good choice for Ridley Scott to do this instead of another Prometheus. Now there was a nope.

 

When he used that plastic sheeting patch on the blown out air duct even my layman's knowledge had me wondering: "is that gonna work, and in a storm?".

But yeah, we watched it, pretty good yarn.

 

pretty sure rod serling did this about 55 years ago.

 

Just read the book. Great stuff. No idea if some of it is really possible, but supposedly the author is a real space geek who made every effort to be scientifically accurate, including working out course trajectories. Haven't seen the movie yet but Matt Damon seems perfect for the role of the main character, given how that character was written.

 

Just don't get to confident in the power of duct tape. It may stop air leaking from your helmet (although the daily temperature extremes will challenge the adhesive). It won't hold back even 5 psi over a >1 m2 blown hatch.

 

But was it actually duct tape, or something higher spec just called duct tape, like the tape used in jet repairs.

Oh My God There’s Duct Tape On My Plane!

 

it was good enough for tom ridge. i still have my roll and plastic sheeting in the crawlspace.

 

I used some tape on our furnace ducts, it's actually aluminum. "Duct" tape should never be used on ducts, it lifts/curls soon enough.